Joe Keller’s curiosity was infectious. One of his students (Mahadevan) also was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize. And one of that student’s students (David Hu) also was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize.
An unplanned uncollaring led to an unexpected play session in space. This study tells what happened:
“Object play in thick-toed geckos during a space experiment,” Valerij Barabanov, Victoria Gulimova, Rustam Berdiev, and Sergey Saveliev, Journal of Ethology, vol. 33, no. 2, May 2015, pp 109–115. The authors, at the Research Institute of Human Morphology, Moscow, Russia, and at Moscow State University, report:
Play behavior was observed in thick-toed geckos (Chondrodactylus turneri GRAY 1864) during a 30-day orbital experiment on the unmanned spacecraft “BION-M” No. 1. The geckos wore ornamented colored collars which made it possible to track the behavior of individual animals on video recordings. The object of the play behavior was a collar that one of the geckos had managed to remove in the pre-launch period and which floated weightless in the animal holding unit under microgravity. Four of the five geckos participated in play episodes, which were defined as one-time interactions with the collar, as well in a fuller form of play that included approaching the unmoving collar or observing its approach, manipulations with the collar and further tracking the collar. Manipulations with the collar could take the form of complicated play, such as pressing the snout against the edge of the collar rim, multiple episodes of pushing the collar with the snout, inserting the head into the collar, holding the collar by pressing the head to the container floor and tilting the head with the collar on the snout.
The experience was recorded on video. Here’s a little chunk of that, with music added by New Scientist magazine:
(Thanks to Ig Nobel Prize winner Richard Wassersug for bringing this to our attention.)
The Dutch blog De Kat van Freud reminds everyone of what’s happening next week, and points to a video that’s very much in the spirit of the Ig. Here’s an auto-translation from the original Dutch:
The Ig Nobel Prize is a parody of the Nobel Prize and annually at Harvard awarded to 10 studies that you “first laugh and then set them thinking.” Humorous investigation so. Think of the investigation Kees Moeliker (also called the “duck-guy” named) connected to the Natural History Museum Rotterdam. He is the first biologist homosexual necrophilia is described and documented in the wild duck….
And in 2013 the prize went to Laurent Bègue (and others) for their research that showed that people who (think they) are drunk themselves more attractive, smarter, finding original and funnier ( ‘beauty is in the eye of the beer holder : people who think They are drunk ook think They are attractive).
This reminded me of the fantastic, interactive campaign of the Danish bus company Movia a few years ago. It shows nicely how people overestimate themselves when they have the necessary drinks.
Unfortunately, it is not to be found online interactive version, but following videos show a pretty picture:
